Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for cleaning and maintaining a medical hand-held instrument, in particular a dental hand-held instrument, that exhibits an elongate grip sleeve in which elements are arranged which pertain to a drive arrangement and which are, in particular, rotatably supported, wherein for the purpose of cleaning and maintaining the hand-held instrument different media are conducted through it. The invention relates furthermore to a system for cleaning and maintaining a medical hand-held instrument, in particular a dental hand-held instrument, that exhibits an elongate grip sleeve in which elements are arranged which pertain to a drive arrangement and which are, in particular, rotatably supported, the system being designed, for the purpose of cleaning and maintaining the hand-held instrument, to conduct different media through it. The invention relates furthermore to a process and a system for operating a medical hand-held instrument, in particular a dental hand-held instrument, that exhibits an elongate grip sleeve in which elements are arranged which pertain to a drive arrangement and which are, in particular, rotatably supported.
Related Technology
For the purpose of cleaning and maintaining a corresponding dental hand-held instrument in the form of an anglepiece it is known to clean the rotatably supported elements of the drive arrangement with a cleaning agent or cleaning fluid in a first step and to lubricate or oil them in a subsequent, second step. In this process the cleaning agent and the oil are conducted through cavity regions of the anglepiece that extend directly around rotatably supported elements of the drive arrangement. The anglepiece includes, besides these cavity regions which are perfused by the cleaning agent and the oil, yet further cavity regions, which are connected to the external space of the anglepiece via jointing gaps. These further cavity regions are connected to one another by a light-means guide, a coolant guide and ducts for sensor lines and power lines and at the same time are almost hermetically shielded or separated from the first-named cavity regions perfused by the cleaning agent and the oil. With the known process for cleaning and maintenance, the further cavity regions are consequently not treated. There is therefore a risk that pathogens, for example viruses, that have penetrated into the further cavity regions within the scope of a dental application of the anglepiece will not be removed from the anglepiece by the cleaning and maintenance and will subsequently allow a risk of infection to arise for users and patients.